STUCK IN A RUT? LORD REVEAL THE RUTS!
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT:
Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23 (MSG) Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; 24 See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.
RUT: a monotonous routine, A TRACK WORN BY HABITUAL PASSAGE,
STUCK IN A RUT… TO BE FIXED IN A PARTICULAR ACTIVITY AND TRAPPED roove in which something runs,
I CALL A RUT AN OPEN ENDED GRAVE… IN A METHOD OF DOING THINGS AND NEED A REAL CHANGE.
You as an individual, your family and your church need to learn:
1 EVERY NEXT LEVEL OF YOUR LIFE WILL DEMAND A DIFFERENT YOU…
2. Truth teaches by traveling little by little we can achieve great distances.
3. Frustration becomes a daily attitude area.
Answer this problem: DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU CAN CHANGE? Can your family change? WE MUST DEEEVELOP A PLAN. HOW CAN I GET FROM WHERE I AM TO WHERE I DESIRE?
ARE WE READY FOR PERIOLOUS TIMES? WE HAVE THE GREAT ABILITY TO BE LIKE AN OSTRICH AND BURY OUR HEAD SO WE REFUSE TO ADMIT WE ARE IN DANGER? CAN WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE HARD TIMES AHEAD? WE MUST AVOID THE RUTS OF LIFE…
DO WE BURY OUR HEAD IN THE SAND AND IGNORE THE THINGS THAT CAN TRAP US AND DESTROY OUR FAMILY? WE WALK IN PERILOUS TIMES--- danger, risky times…
2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
There are difficult times ahead. ARE WE PREPARED FOR THE DANGEROUS, RISKY TIMES?
One of the goals of the family and the church must be: BE READY! READY FOR WHAT? Ready for anything. Are we honestly getting our families and church ready? I sadly proclaim I DOUBT OUR NATION IS REALLY READY FOR THE DARK DAYS AHEAD?
WE MUST AVOID THE TRAPS THAT WILL BECOME RUTS! WILL WE BE READY? WHAT WILL WE DO IN THE SWELLING OF JORDAN?
Jeremiah 12:5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
I WISH WE WOULD ALL BE READY? BUT WE SEEM TO GET STUCK IN A RUT. THIS IS A REAL MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISORDER. DEPRESSION OFTEN FOLLOWS BEING IN A RUT… WHY ARE WE NOT READY FOR THE RUTS? NOT READY?
Anxiety, stress, worry, fear, suffering and lose of joy is easy to deny and go into a protective mode of staying the same. The next thing you know is you quit looking forward and you refuse to acknowledge you are staying the same, fly in a circular motion. Never advancing, never changing. You must allow the HOLY SPIRIT TO EXPOSE THIS TRAP OF STAYING WITH A TRAPPED FEELING.
Is your behavior a predictable, habitual pattern(rut)? Do you keep doing everything the same old way and expect a different outcome? Can we define INSANITY? Maybe insanity is to keep doing the same old same old and thing you will see a different experience?
LET US SEARCH SOME BIBLICAL PEOPLE THAT HAD THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND AND REFUSED TO CHANGE. TRAP IS SET?
The enemy caught EVE AWAY FROM THE SAFETY of her man and being away from GOD! EVE WAS IN A RUT AND SHE REFUSED TO SEE THE DANGER SHE FACED. Eve should have never talked to the slick tongued enemy! What rut did EVE FIND HERSELF… SHE SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN NEAR THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT. While in a perilous time, EVE WAS LOOKING AT THE BEAUTIFUL TREE. I believe she visited that tree on more than one occasion. EVE LOVED TO LOOK AT, I CALL IT FLIRT WITH THE RUT.
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
PART OF BEING IN THE RUT IS HIDING FROM GOD? WHY? ADAM AND EVE WAS IN THE RUT AND LOST THEIR FEAR OF GOD AND GOD’S RULES…
Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
ADAM and EVE fell into a rut. THEY NEVER REPENT? They never acknowledged their sin? Who knows, it is God’s very nature to FORGIVE. ADAM MADE EXCUSES AND PLAYED THE BLAME GAME…
Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Adam blamed the woman, she has been blamed ever since. EVE BLAMED THE SERPENT! AGAIN, NO ONE ADMITTED THE SIN! NO ONE CONFESSED. EXCUSES BECAME PART OF THE RUT THAT THE FIRST COUPLE FELL INTO… God made the first sacrifice of blood for the clothes… APPARENTLY ADAM AND EVE WAS IN A TERRIBLE RUT THAT WOULD PASS ON TO THEIR CHILDREN. WHAT A TERRIBLE RUT… GET UP! GET OUT!
LOOK AT THE RUT CAIN GOT TRAPPED IN… HIS RUT WAS CARVED BY A POOR SACRIFICE. Sacrifice ABEL gave his best: FIRSTLING… CAIN BEING STUCK IN A RUT THERE BRINGS OF EXTREME ANGER… WHICH DIGS THE RUT DEEPER. Cain could have correct his mistake but the rut was set in ANGER.
Let me asked you a question: ARE YOU GIVING GOD YOUR BEST, OR ARE YOU GIVING GOD THE LEFTOVERS? Look what god warns Cain: ABOUT HIS ATTITUDES AND THE RUT THAT HE DUG?
Genesis 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
DO YOU REFUSE TO REPENT AND JUST GET ANGRY AT GOD AND YOUR BROTHER? Now CAIN digs his rut deeper, he kills his brother, ABEL. CAIN NEVER REPENTS AND HE NEVER CHANGES HIS ATTITUDE… THE RUT BECAME A SERIOUS TRAP, AND CAIN THOUGHT HIS PUNISHMENT WAS EXCESSIVE, AND HE TELLS GOD… AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER? What to see what CAIN’S RUT BECAME? COMPLAINING COMES FROM THE CENTER OF THE RUT.
Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
THE TRAP OF THE RUT BECAME THE DOWNFALL OF A MAN THAT REFUSED TO CHANGE. CAIN REFUSED TO REPENT. Cain followed in ADAM and EVE’S RUTS! IF YOU DO THE CRIME, THEN YOU MUST BE WILLING TO PAY THE TIME. Will we forever be trapped in this rut? ARE WE GOING TO TRAP OUR CHILDREN IN THIS RUT? Will frustration and anger be a driving factor? Will we be defined by the rut traps?
CAN WE SEE THESE RUTS CAN BE FATAL? METAMORPHOSIS: CHANGE IS POSSIBLE, MAYBE?
My oldest son was little and he loved playing little league baseball. We pastored in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Floyd County is beautiful but very pronged to FLOODING. The government bought out areas that had floods real often so people could move out of the flood plains. One such area was ARCHER PARK. The bowl area below the mountains. Archer Park was named for a local hero, Doctor George Archer a man that helped establish a better local health care system in the area.
There was 5 or 6 baseball fields built in the bottom land. When it floods no houses are damaged. The city maintenance trucks would drive around the fields and mow and clean up the park. Around one field there were ruts where the truck drove the dual wheel trucks. One day while watching my son practice ball I got to study the ruts. I saw thousands of crushed CATERPILLARS, little green shimmy globs. Seems in their journey some CATERPILLARS became trapped in the ruts. The wheels of the trucks killed the caterpillars. Hundreds, maybe thousands of caterpillars would never know the joy of the “wind beneath their wings.” They would only know a life of crawling in the mud? Kind of sad? Their choices would keep them in the mud. The ugly little caterpillar could have made better choices in directions and avoided the little mud road.
I sat there and ponder how often human beings made THE WRONG DECISIONS that will hinder the natural process of growth. THE METAMORPHOSIS PROCESS CAN NEVER BE COMPLETED. A pregnant teen? A student that drops out of school? A young person turns to cigarettes can never see throat or lung cancer? How about the alcohol leading to alcoholism? How about having a wreck and killing another? How about drug addictions? Sores
All over the body? Sick and bones, stealing from their family and friends?
Seems these caterpillars are BLIND TO THE FACT THAT THESE RUTS CAN BE FATAL? Seems human beings can fall into the RUTS OF LIFE and never achieve THEIR POTENTIAL. Come let us agree: PLEASE GOD EXPOSE THE RUTS THAT WILL HINDER OUR CHANGE. God has a plan of METAMORPOSIS to help us change to find our purpose.
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EACH OF US… YES, CLAWING IN THE MUD IS PART OF THE PLAN.
It may seem to us let us skip the CRAWLING IN THE MUD PHASE… TO BECOME SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL THAT CAN FLY ABOVE THE MUD WE MUST AVOID THE RUTS AND UNDERGO THE PROCESS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
There are 4 stages of metamorphosis: 1. EGG. 2. LARVA (Caterpillar) 3. PUPA (Cocoon that appears to be dead and lifeless. 4. ADULT (Butterfly.) THE REAL GROWTH STARTS WITH INTERNAL GROWTH. Growth you cannot always see or feel. GOOD HEALTHY GROWTH IS A PROCESS WORKINNG INTERNALLY THEN WE START SEEING EXTERNAL CHANGES.
One of the biggest changes is BECAUSE A TERRIBLE INTERNAL STRUGGLE. The COCOON STAGE appears to be death, little can be seen of life. Then one day the STRUGGLE BEGINS. Many days within the COCOON the development is hard and difficult. The butterfly’s struggle means life or death. THERE DEVELOPS A NEW LIFE. Not only is there internal growth, there grows EXTERNAL CHANGES. THE STRUGGLE AND PRESSURE OOF CHANGE IS REAL. The struggle starts and extreme pressure that forces fluid through the new wings. If the cocoon ever flies this struggle develops the wings to strengthen and develop. FEW REALIZE THE ABILITY OF FLIGHT COMES AFTER THE STRUGGLE WITHIN THE PUPA STAGE.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE STRUGGLE IS PART OF THE BUTTERFLIES LIFE PROCESS. GOD IS NOT MEAN, THIS BATTLE WILL MEAN THE DIFFERENCE IN LIFE OR DEATH. Sure, my friend we have to walk through the stages of development. You will never just wake up a SPIRITUAL BUTTERFLY. You have to walk through this lonesome, dark valley. Sure, you may get sick of crawling through the mud. Sure, you must avoid the RUTS. Sure, you must ENDURE THE INTERNAL and EXTERNAL STUGGLES. But TRUST GOD, God’s plan is that you get out of the mud and FLY… Only God can see your full potential. IF YOU WILL OPEN YOUR HEART TO THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU CAN AVOID THE RUTS!
THERE IS ONLY ONE EFFECTIVE WAY TO SET YOUR FREE FROM THE DANGERS OF THE RUT…
Come to the feet of Jesus. Acknowledge you have a problem. CONFESS and REPENT and submit yourself to allow the Holy Spirit to investigate you words, your thoughts and God cross examine me and SAVE ME FROM THE RUTS.
Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23 (MSG) Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; 24 See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.
HOW CAN I LEARN TO IDENTIFY IF I AM STUCK IN A RUT? ARE YOUR BAD ATTITUDES GETTING YOU STUCK IN A RUT?
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
John 8:36 (MSG) So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.
THERE GROWS A BIG TRAP OF A RUT WHEN WE CANNOT COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS. LET’S CALL THIS RUT FROZEN COMMUNICATION LINES AND IMPROPER USES OF CONFLICT… DIVISON AND SEPERATION WILL BECOME A HOPELESS RUT…
Genesis 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Genesis 37:4 (NIV) When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Genesis 37:4 (MSG) When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.
1. YOU HAVE LOST YOUR JOY IN DAILY LIVING.
2. YOU HAVE LOST YOUR DREAMING ABILITY AND YOU FEEL TRAPPED…
3. YOU NEVER TRY ANYTHING NEW, YOU LIVE IN THE SAME OLD SAME OLD STUFF…
4. YOU GRIPE, COMPLAIN AND ALWAYS FEEL SO TIRED…
5. YOU HAVE LEARNED TO FEAR SAME. You would rather stay the same than face the danger of changing.
COME LET US STUDY THE RUT OF BIITTERNESS, IT CAN BECOME A RUT THAT DEVELOPS INTO A DEATH TRAP…
THE RUT OF A GRUDGE AND ANGER…
That preacher John the Baptist’s sermon really made me mad. Perhaps he knows the Bible, but I love Herod. I am in the rut, I DON’T LOVE MY HUSBAND… John does not understand, he is an old outdated preacher. I HATE HIS MESSAGE AND THUS I HATE HIM. I am revengeful, bitter and I hold a grudge. HERODIAS SAYS I DON’T JUST GET MAD, I GET EVEN.
Herodias is blatantly commiting adultery with her husband Philip’s brother, KING HEROD! The rut defines, I will make John pay for this.
Mark 6:19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:
Mark 6:19 (NLT) So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless,
Mark 6:19 (MSG) Herodias, smoldering with hate, wanted to kill him, but didn't dare.
The rut of anger was driving this woman’s beautiful heart. Herodias is looking for revenge and she finds the opportunity. Herodias rut of bitterness will become a spiritual death trap.
Matthew 14:6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
THE DAUGHTER CAN HAVE ANYTHING UP TO HALF OF THE KINGDOM. She could have a new mustang? She can have the second biggest house in the kingdom? She could be a millionaire… but the daughter asked her mother, stuck in the rut of hatred and bitterness and sin. Herodias tells her daughter stay in the rut with me. ASK FOR THE RUT OF BITTERNESS, ASK FOR THE PREACHER’S HEAD. I WANT TO SHUT HIS MOUTH ONCE AND FOR ALL.
Mark 6:22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
JOHN COMES OUT OF PRISON HEAD FIRST? CAN YOU IMAGINE THE LOOK ON THAT DAUGHTER’S FACE WHEN SHE SAW THE PREACHER’S HEAD? ONE DAY THE GIRLS RUT WILL BE BEFORE HER. HER MOMMA’S RUT WILL HAVE CHEATED THAT DAUGHTER OUT A WEALTH, FAME, AND MATERIAL POSSESSIONS.
The rut can never be changed. In my opinion the mom and daughter will have nightmares and serious nerve problems. The mom passed her rut of bitterness to the next generation. What a potential was lost because of bitterness. Let me ask you, are you angry and bitter? Do you not like the preacher’s message? Are you seeking revenge? Are you trapper in the rut of sin? There is no record of confession and repentance. CAN YOU SEE THE RUT IS BEFORE US? YOUR CHOICE.
CONCLUSION: My neighbor told me a story about this drunk that took a short cut through the dark graveyard. The funeral home had dug the grave for the funeral the next day. The drunk fell into the dark grave. He was stuck in the open grave. In his drunken stupor the man jumped and jumped trying to get out of the grave and he could not. After several hours the drunk man quietly set down in the corner of the grave. And he wished for the day? After an hour or so another drunk came by and fell in the same grave. The other drunk jumped and jumped trying to get out of the grave. Finally he decided it was impossible to get out of this mess, so he set down to rest. The first drunk spoke up and said: I SEE YOU CAN’T GET OUT EITHER? The second drunk was so afraid he jumped totally out of the grave? See you can get out of the rut if you have enough motivation? YOU CAN GET OUT IF YOU SO DESIRE. ARISE AND LEAVE THE RUT FAR BEHIND.
SAMSON got stuck in a rut?
ESAU was stuck in the rut of hating his brother Jacob?
JEZEBEL and AHAB was stuck and the same dogs that licked Naboth’s blood will drink theirs?
DAVID seemed to be trapped in sexual sin?
AGRIPPA GOT IN THE RUT OF PROCRASTINATION, I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME?
THE CHILDREN OF ISREAL WAS IN THE RUT OF COMPLAINING?
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
(This is a several part lesson)
